Last Christmas
by Peace.Love.Deanna
Summary: About a year or so has past since Breaking Dawn, and Leah is still the bitter werewolf girl everyone loves to hate. Can her friends change her from her Scrooge ways, and maybe even help her find love?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is the first story I'll be writing on here (: I don't know too much about this website still, but if you guys could comment and review this that'd mean the world to me! I have a pretty hectic life with school and stuff, but I promise to write as much as I can! **

**Also, a few things to keep in mind: It's after Breaking Dawn, maybe a year or less, depending on what time of the year BD ended in. This takes place in the end of November right now. Also (this will come into play more later on), Paul never imprinted on Jacob's sister. xD**

**I hope you like it :D Even if you don't like the Leah&Paul ship (which I think would be cute, totally ^^), just keep your mind wide open for me! Enjoy!**

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It's amazing how day-by-day, Emily Young-Uley can get on my list.

It's not the good list, like "People I love so dearly" blah, blah, blah. I don't have a list like that. I'm talking about my list of "If I find out the day I die, the day before I plan on killing these people" list. Formerly known as my "When I'm dead I'm coming back to haunt these people" list, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll outlive them.

So far on the list I have: Isabella Swan-Cullen (For pretty much being born, and what she did to Jacob… nah, screw it. For being born.), Sam Uley (self-explanatory really), and all the Cullens (besides the mother hen one, it's hard not to like that damn bloodsucker).

Back when Emily, my cousin, ran off with Sam, my high school love, there was a time when she was briefly on the list. Then I phased and became a giant dog, which made me find out about 'imprinting" (god, I hate that word). So my morals pretty much forced me to take her off the list, since it wasn't totally her fault.

Yet if she keeps making my life harder than it is, she may just join her husband on my list.

For today, we were all at her and Sam's house. When I say we, I mean the whole pack (minus Jacob, for some reason), so I pretty much get stuck tagging along to their house and watching their perfect little life together. The whole pack was gorging out on whatever Emily would put in their direction to eat. Unlike me, they don't care about looking like pigs. I, on the other hand, try not to play into the whole "werewolves eat like wild animals" cliché the guys go for.

Just when I was about to ask if anyone has seen Jake, the door opens and in walks my best friend himself. "Hey guys," he grinned, and I tried to suppress a smile back. Jake was one of those guys where if he smiles, you feel like you should be smiling too. And he has a nice smile.

My smile completely faded, however, when I noticed what he was holding in his right hand: the hand of Renesmee Carlie Cullen, Jacob's half-leech imprint. You know what people say about people and their baggage? Little Nessie was definitely Jake's baggage. All fifty-two inches of scrawny, bronze-haired baggage.

The minute she walked in us wolves became dead silent, except for Seth Clearwater- my idiot brother- who ran over to them and cried, "Nessie!" then pulled her into a big hug. Yes, my little brother the leech lover. I'm so proud.

Everyone else awkward murmured their hellos. As comfortable with the Cullens as we are (you know, for being two species born to hate each other), the fact that a member of the pack imprinted on one of them is still really weird. Besides to Seth and Emily, of course.

"Renesmee, darling, come sit down! Can I get you a bite to eat?" Emily asked her, as she did every time the little demon kid came over. We all knew what she was going to say back to Emily too:

"Thanks Emily, but I'm eating later at home." Then she'll give her a sweet little smile that tries to make up for the fact that whatever she's eating tonight is probably getting its last breaths right now.

"Okay honey, well make yourself comfortable anyway," Emily motioned around the room, telling her to make herself at home. I don't get why, but Emily seems to love to have little Renesmee around. She thinks Nessie is the "cutest thing". It's obvious that it pains Sam every time Nessie steps in the house, while Emily just invites a vampire to hang out with them like it's totally normal. If either of the girls notices Sam's dismay, however, they don't show it. Personally I think Ness happens to be a little slow with the fact that no one likes her here (except for three people, but one of them is kind of obligated to like her), but that may just be because she was brought up spoiled at the Cullen house, making her believe everyone in the world loves her, just like her family.

"No thanks Em, we're not staying long," Renesmee beamed, and for a moment I thought I saw a rainbow coming out of her. The girl is that fucking cheery. "My mom just sent me here with Jake to invite you all to Christmas Eve at Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme's house!"

Next to me, Paul- one of the pack members- started choking on his corn muffin. Next to him, Embry slammed Paul on the back to get him to stop choking. Looking around the room, I didn't need to be reading their minds to know what we were all thinking: Hell. No.

Even Jacob looked surprised by his little girlfriend's "announcement", which clearly proved that he wasn't the one to start this precious idea. His smile only faltered slightly though, so Nessie couldn't tell that the idea bugged him almost as much as it did us.

"Renesmee," Sam hesitantly began, "That's very nice of your family, but…" he trailed off, looking at Jake for some support.

But once Nessie looked up at Jake with her big brown eyes, we all knew whose side he'd be on.

"Well, I think it's a lovely idea!" Emily beamed, giving Sam so not the support he was looking for. "Don't you guys agree?"

Well, since she asked…

"No," I said, deadpan.

"Will you guys be serving food, or deer parts?" Paul jumped in after me, smirking.

"Besides, only Jake likes being in that house," I added, shrugging. "Plus they all hate us."

Nessie's face fell, which briefly reminded me of her mother, that bitch Isabella Swan. "Oh, but not all of them! Only Auntie Rose, and she hates a lot of people!"

Great, because that made me feel better.

"I wanna go…" Seth said to no one in particular. Renesmee must have heard him though, since she grinned over at him. I kicked him from under the table. Traitor.

"I think it'd be a lovely idea," Emily smiled, then walked over to Sam and wrapped her arms around him. "Don't you agree?"

Paul elbowed me lightly, and I looked over at him quickly and nodded. We were both thinking the same thing; Sam's either with us or against us. His decision time was now.

After a long silence, Sam let out a long breath. "Sounds fun," he looked over at Ness, and I swear her eyes looked like they were dancing. "We'll be there."

This was all because of goddamn imprinting. If there were no imprinting, Jacob and Sam wouldn't make us go to this. Ugh. Have I mentioned how much I hate imprinting?

"That's great!" Renesmee grinned, "I can't wait!"

And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Emily had to open her freaking mouth.

"Oh! I have an amazing idea!" We all looked at her blankly (except Sam with his usual adoring look for her, and Ness with her grinning-like-a-moron face). "What if we all do Secret Santa? I've been thinking about bringing it up for the pack, but I think it'd be more fun with the vampires too. I mean, maybe it could get you guys closer!" She was grinning with excitement. And us?

We kept looking at her blankly. The pack never does gift exchanges; last year I only got Seth something, and that's because he's my brother. I didn't even get Emily anything, if you want to count her as "the pack" (which I don't, but more and more she's been counting herself in the group she's not a part of, like Ginny in Harry Potter). This year wasn't going to be much different, though I was thinking about getting Jacob something. Last year I was hardly friends with the guy, but 365 days really do change a lot. Hell, I was even thinking of getting Paul something, because I saw this marshmallow shooter thing in Toys R' Us and I thought of him immediately.

But Secret Santa? That's just stupid. A bunch of werewolf guys who can't shop for themselves, let alone for dinosaur bloodsuckers who can have anything they really want? Lame.

So, naturally, Nessie eats the idea up. "I love it!" she squealed, "Auntie Alice will love it too! It sounds so much fun!"

"Yeah, fun," Sam and Jacob mumbled, and shot us all _I'm sorry for getting you in this mess _looks. I just narrowed my eyes at them.

"So, uh, are we doing that?" Quil hesitantly asked, probably not wanting to sound too excited or too upset about it. He's a big people pleaser.

"What is Secret Santa?" Paul asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"It's where you pick a name out of a hat full of people and get them a gift. Basically it's what friendless people sign up for so they have someone to buy gifts for." Emily frowned at me, seeming hurt that I didn't like her idea. Though she frowns at me a lot, so it's not like it was completely different than the other frowns.

"What if we do four weeks of gifts?" Seth looked at Emily and Renesmee, "Like on the first Saturday of December everyone gives a gift secretly to their person. Then as the Saturdays continue, the gifts get better and better!" he grinned, proud of his idea. "And then the last Saturday before Christmas is Christmas Eve, so then we can give the best gifts and find out who had us in the thing!"

Four weeks of shopping for one person? I can already say what my gifts will be for whomever I get: a gumball, a yo-yo, a bouncy ball and a ten-dollar gift card to the grocery store. Part of me kind of wants to get Emily; just so I can watch the satisfaction of her dreams crushed when Secret Santa isn't what she thought it'd be like.

"Sounds like a fun idea," I shrugged nonchalantly, "Let's do it." Everyone looked at me like I was insane. Once the most stubborn pack member agreed (a.k.a. me), the rest of them slowly agreed as well.

"This is amazing! I can't wait to tell Grandma Esme!" Renesmee grinned. Maybe it would be fun to get little Nessie in Secret Santa too… the gifts I would give that girl.

I smirked. Suddenly I couldn't wait for Christmas. Ho, ho, ho.

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**Thanks for reading! More coming when I can write! For now, review, please! (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**I just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed the story, it means to much to me :D sorry this chapter took so long to put up, I've just been real busy :P I'm going to try to get another up before the end of the week, but no promises.**

**Alright, R+R!**

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**Saturday, November 26****th**

**29 more days until Christmas**

_On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me…_

I scowled and shut the radio off. Ugh, only two days after Thanksgiving and already the Christmas music is getting to me. The Twelve Days of Christmas has got to be one of the worst songs yet. Have you ever noticed how carolers seem less and less sure of the days as they go on? It's because no one cares enough to make it to twelve. Hell, I don't even know what the twelfth day is.

"Hey, I was listening to that!" Seth complained, and reached over from the passenger seat to turn it back on. I smacked his hand away.

"My car, my rules," I told him, "Rule number one: I get control of the radio. Which includes no Christmas music." Seth scowled but nodded, aware of his defeat.

"You're gonna hafta make a turn on your next left," Jacob called from the seat behind me. Grimacing, I clenched the steering wheel tighter. Why did I get stuck driving them all?

"Jake, I've been to the bloodsucker's house before," I scolded him, "But thanks anyway. Next time I need a back seat driver, I'll be sure to give you the job."

"Burn," Paul snickered, sitting next to Jacob.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," muttered Jake, and there was no doubt that he was rolling his eyes. "Just trying to help."

A couple minutes of glorious silence later, we drove into the driveway of the Cullen's house. Eddie Cullen was there to greet us at the door. "Good evening," he mumbled and gave a curt nod, gazing at each of us. I looked around awkwardly, trying to hide any bad thoughts about him in my head. Not bad ones like how I think he's a parasite and is about as useful as a mosquito, but I try to block the thoughts I have about him creeping me out. Because in truth, he does creep me out. A lot. His golden orbs that they call eyes seem to gaze past your skin and into your soul, knowing your every thought and plan. I'd hate to be his prey.

He led us into the dining room, where already Emily and Sam were seated at the table along with the rest of the family. It's amazing how nice of a dining room they have for a family that doesn't even- you know- eat. It seems pointless to me, but to each their own, and whatnot.

Sam gave us the alpha-nod (which is basically just a guy nod with the alpha look of complete seriousness and boredom). "Sit," he said easily, but we all sat down right then. Jake took a seat next to little Renesmee, who was sitting next to her mother, Bella Cullen. That bitch.

Shit, I forgot the Edward guy could read minds. I sit down next to Jacob and Paul and gaze at Eddie, thinking over and over again _Bella Swan's a bitch, Bella Cullen's a bitch. _I swear I saw the guy roll his eyes.

At the head of the table, Esme Cullen smiled at us. It wasn't an Emily or Nessie smile; not like the smiles they give, that make me want to knock them out. It's a genuine smile, a simple and friendly smile. For a bloodsucker, Esme's uncommonly kind. Sometimes it's a little much; it only makes me cautious for what's to come. "I'm so glad you guys were able to come," she was telling everyone, "When Renesmee told us the Secret Santa idea, we all thought it was the nicest idea."

Across the table, the blonde bimbo vampire, Rosalie Hale, snorted. Of course everyone chose to ignore her, but it basically just proved my theory of not all the Cullens obviously liked the idea of this Christmas thing. I'm sure Blondie hates it just as much as us wolves do. It's kind of sad to think about, but if she wasn't a vampire, I actually think I would be able to sort of get along with her.

Within the next two minutes Quil and Embry showed up, then Jared, then Collin and Brady, and then the others. The big dining room table turned out to be useful for one thing: fitting all these people around the table. When everyone showed up and was seated, Carlisle (the head vamp) passed around sheets of paper and pencils.

"So you're going to put your name on the paper, then I'll pass around a hat and you can add your name into it. Then once it's full each of us will go around and pick a name from the hat," he explained to us, as if it was rocket science. Then the petite vampire with the pixie-styled haircut raised her hand high in the air and waved it around for emphasis, like a third grader trying to ask his teacher if he can go to the bathroom. "Yes Alice?" the dinosaur vampire nodded in her direction, and she dropped her arm to her side.

"Maybe we should each also add a bullet note or two about what we like next to our name," she proposed, with her self-assured tone that made me want to strangle her, "That way if the person doesn't really know the other person they have to get gifts for, it could spark up some ideas."

It was a stupid idea, but of course Carlisle agreed to it. So when I got my piece of paper and pencil, I clearly wrote out on it "Leah Clearwater". I hesitated, not knowing what to write for what I like. What do I like? What I /don't/ like is easy, but actually listing my likes is pretty hard. "Vampires dead," was the first thing I came up with, but because I felt like I needed to add another I also put down "not being a vampire." If I get lucky, one of the vamps will grab my name and read it. Ha.

Carlisle left and came back with a beat up Yankee's hat and passed it around the table, so each of us could place our name into it. It's funny, I would've thought when they said hat they would've come out with an old man hat or something. Anyway, I neatly folded my name up into a little square and dropped it in the baseball cap. When it reached Carlisle again, he picked a name out of the hat, and then passed it around the table again.

When the cap reached me, there were about five papers left. I chose a random one and opened it up, trying to be careful that neither of the guys next to me could read it. There in sloppy but eligible cursive was the name "Rosalie Hale". Great, I got Malibu Barbie.

Next to her name in the same curvy handwriting was what she likes. She seemed to have done blunt ideas likes mine, because apparently she likes "blood", "Emmett" and "beauty". I couldn't have gotten the most opposite person than me, unless I would've gotten… well, any of the vampire girls are opposite than me (plus Emily, for that matter).

Though, maybe there's a plus side to her. I'm sure I can think of something stupid and funny enough to give. Remembering the dog bowls she use to give Jacob, I add a little side note in my head to make the gifts more creative than stuff like that.

I stuff the piece of paper in my pocket and looks over at Paul, who's grimacing. "Get anyone good?" I raised my eyebrows at him. He quickly shoves the name in his pocket, as if looking at it burned his eyes.

"Nope, not really," he said a little quickly, "Just someone boring. You?" he looked back at me. I shrugged.

"Someone alright. It'll be fun to mess with it," I smirked, and he smirked back.

"Have I ever told you I like the way you think, Clearwater?"

"Paul, you don't even know what I'm thinking," I rolled my eyes at him. He shrugged.

"All I know is it's coming from you, so it must be devious. Therefore I'm bound to like it," he grinned wide, which made me laugh for some reason.

"Whatever you say," I pat his shoulder and turned over at Jake. "You, what'd you get?"

"Isn't the whole point of Secret Santa that whoever you chose you remain, I don't know, a secret?" he smirked at me.

"I don't know," I smirked back, "If it all was suppose to be a secret, I don't think inviting a mind reader to join us was a smart idea."

"I heard that," Edward spoke from across the table, which made Jake and I randomly start laughing.

Got to love the holiday season, huh?


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys again so much for the reviews! It means SO much to me :D as for the writing, sorry I've been taking awhile =/ gotta love school, huh? -.- ****This chapter's pretty short, cuz I needed to end it in a way to set up next chapter. I would've kept going, but then it only would've but longer and took longer to put up here :P Sorry.**

**Well, here you go (:**

"So... who'd you get for Secret Santa?" I casually slipped the question into the conversation I was having with Jacob, via webcam.

"Do you listen to me?" he complained, "I was trying to ask you what I should get Nessie for Christmas!" I shrugged, looking at my toenails. They still had hints of lime green nail polish from the time I did them back in July. Man, I need to redo them.

"Nah, I wasn't really paying attention," I yelled over to him, as I got up and grabbed my three bottles of nail polish I owned. All I had was lime green, black and dark purple. "Jake, black or purple for my feet?" I held up both colors into the camera. He rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were above manicures."

"First off manicures are for your hands, and pedicures are for your feet. And I'm bored, so suck it." I paused, and then added. "Get Renesmee some nail polish. All girls use that."

He nodded slowly, seeming to take it into consideration. "Alright. And purple. Black makes you look emo." I snorted and started applying the purple right over my slightly green toenails. They were going to look hot, even though no one would ever see them.

"You never answered my question," I pointed out, still applying my polish. "Who'd you get?" Jake kept gloating because he got someone great for Secret Santa, and knows the perfect gifts to get whomever. He won't freaking tell me /who/, though.

"I don't want to tell you, it's suppose to be a secret."

"I told you who I had."

"I didn't ask."

That was true. The minute he wouldn't tell me who he got, I just told him I had Rose. I figured he'd have some ideas for her, even though I already had some gift ideas in the back of my mind. But still, he wasn't winning this. "It's not fair. You're making me feel like you got me."

"Trust me, it's not you," he chuckled, "I'd tell you if I did." I doubted that, but I remained silent. Noticing I was arguing, he quickly changed the conversation- kind of. "So, what did you get Blondie?"

"I don't see why I should tell you," I stiffly replied, letting my feet rest on my desk so they could dry. "Since you tell me shit."

"Don't be bitter, Clearwater," he smirked, clearly mocking me. After all, bitter is my middle name. "Just tell me."

"Fine. I got her a mirror," I rolled my eyes at his persistence.

"Just a mirror? That's lame," Jacob clicked his tongue at me in shame.

"Oh shut up, the first gift's suppose to be the cheapest," I reminded him. "Besides, I doubt that girl could ever have too many mirrors." I paused, and then hastily added, "What'd you get your person?"

"Nothing yet, I'm still thinking." He grinned at me through the computer. "You seem awfully excited about this Secret Santa thing, Leah. I can almost see a smile on your face. It's like I don't even know you."

I glared at him. Damn him, now I feel embarrassed. This Secret Santa thing is stupid; it's not exciting at all. So why do I keep bringing it up? Do I have nothing better in my life to talk about? Jacob opened his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off. "Goodnight, Jake," I mumbled, and shut the webcam off.

Damn him. Damn Jacob Black.

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_So what is this about? I'm babysitting Claire later_, Quil's thoughts echoed through my wolfy head. We were all in the La Push woods; when I say we, I mean the pack (thankfully minus Emily). Sam had called a pack meeting for tonight, but didn't say why. We may be able to read the guy's mind, but when he wanted to keep something a surprise, the man had a way with blocking his thoughts. I wish I would learn it.

_We all wish we could learn it,_ Jared's voice chimed in my head, agreeing with me. _It'd make life a hell of a lot easier._ I growled slightly. Man, I hate people getting in my head.

Thankfully Sam's big, black wolf body spoke- well, projected his thoughts- to us. _Apparently there's a new vampire around here. According to the Cullen's it's a nomad, but they don't it well enough to get it to leave. If you haven't heard on the news yet, it's killed over a dozen people, trailing from Seattle to now here. It's going to be on our side soon, clearly staying away from the Cullen's side of town, so that means we have to take care of it._

_We finally get to kick some vampire ass? Sweet!_ Paul's hurry wolf face was grinning big. He reminded me of a puppy dog, smiling as its head's sticking out a window. He was a puppy dog that can kill you, though.

_When are we gonna get it? _Jake asked.

_As soon as possible. She's suppose to be physically in her late teens or early twe- Yes Paul, it's a girl. _I could practically see Sam rolling his eyes in my head. He kept going though, ignoring Paul's grumbling; Paul's not a big fan of fighting girls, especially since he lost a fight with some vampire girl awhile back. _Anyway, I'm thinking tomorrow she'll come, and since it's a Friday night there'll probably be some big party she'll aim at…_

_Like a college party me and Kim are going to tomorrow? _Jared cut him off. Nine sets of eyes locked at him.

_Yes, _Sam said after a moment of silence from his corner,_ Just like that. We'll need some people to take shifts outside the party, watching for the vampire._

_Woah woah woah_, Paul raised his volume to his thoughts overpowered Sam's, _You expect us to sit _outside _a super awesome college party… full of college girls?_ I muttered something in my head (which everyone would hear anyway) about me rolling my eyes. Paul ignored it. _How about we go incognito to the party? And let's bring dates!_

_So what then? You wouldn't be going?_ My snappy thought was out for everyone to hear before I could even help it. I could tell they were all laughing, expect Paul.

_Paul may have an idea,_ Sam's thoughts went above the laughter. _Jared, you and Kim go somewhere else tomorrow night. You can't let her near this mess. Paul, Leah, Jacob, Quil and Embry, you five go to the party as… well, as partygoers. Have fun, but keep an eye out. You'll know her when you see her._

_What about us? _Seth complained, meaning him, Collin and Brady.

_You guys will scope the outside with me, _Sam explained_, You can't go in the party though. You guys look too young._

So finally it was settled; tomorrow I'd be going to a college party with four of my pack members, to play super spy. Watching people practically my age get drunk and feel each other up. Yay. Can't wait.

_Don't worry, Leah_, Paul's thoughts cut into my sarcastic ones (the ones that were suppose to be to myself, but having personal thoughts were impossible in a pack), _If anyone tries to feel you up, we can feed them to the vampire_. It was such a stupid and moronic statement, that I couldn't help but laugh.

**So, that's it for now (: Haha again, sorry it wasn't long. R+R please! I've also been thinking of writing some one shots from another kind of story/show, maybe the Vampire Diaries? Would anyone read? Lemme know :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Another chapter (: I intended it to be long and pretty good, so hopefully it is so. Some of the romance comes into play (;**

**R+R guys! I love reading reviews :D**

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I never realized how much I really hate college kids. Or, I should say, the college partiers.

Driving to the house that had the party, there was one word to describe it all: massive. The house was massive (abnormally large for a Forks or La Push house), and there was a massive amount of people. Then, as we walked in, there were more massive amounts of something else- alcohol.

Why all these kids like keg is beyond me.

Just as I thought that, of course Paul and Quil reach for some keg. I smack it out of their hands. "Morons, don't drink!"

"Hey! We're trying to blend in!" Quil argued, crossing his arms over his chest. Paul nodded in agreement, probably because he couldn't think of a better excuse quick enough.

"Then grab a coke and say it's alcohol." I paused, and then added. "And don't drink from it."

Next to me, Jacob rolled his eyes and scanned the area quickly. I did the same, looking for suspicious behavior. All I found were pairs and pairs of eyes, glued on us. I tensed slightly at first, but I knew it wasn't anything life threatening. They were mostly girls watching, so they were probably checking the guys out. I resisted the urge to flip them off, and looked back at the guys.

"Where to first?" I asked them.

"We should split up into floors," Embry said, while looking around at the huge house.

Just then a girl came over to us. She was a typical partygoer college girl, complete with the blonde hair and tight clothes, smell of alcohol, and drunk as hell. She walked over to Quil (more like stumbled, actually) and grinned. "H-hey you," she slurred, "Want to come upstairs with me and my friends?"

Taken aback, Quil looked from her to us to her friends, back to us. Finally a hint of realization reached his eyes, noticing the opportunity to go undercover. "Sure, sounds good," he managed a weak smile for the poor drunk bimbo. After giving us a curt nod, he followed her and her drunken friends upstairs.

Once they were out of hearing distance, Jake spoke. "Alright then, Quil has the upstairs. So that's make two for the basement and two for the ground floor."

That moment was the perfect time for some guy to run up from the basement door and yell as loud as he could, "7 minutes in heaven downstairs!" and then run back down.

Paul could not run down there fast enough. "I call basement!" he yelled, and headed for the door, along with a group of other people.

The three of us looked at each other. After none of us would agree to going down there to baby-sit Paul, Jacob took the opportunity to be in charge. "Leah, get down there with him."

"Why me?" I scowled.

"Because if anyone can tell Paul what to do without him blowing his top, it's you," Embry cut in. He had a point, I suppose.

"Alright, I'll go," I made a face, "But I'm not gonna be happy about it." They rolled their eyes, and on that note I headed downstairs with the rest of the horny, drunken kids.

A group of kids were already seated in a circle with an empty wine bottle in the middle. I immediately found Paul in the crowd and leaned against the wall closest to him. The moron was sitting in the circle, waiting to make out with some random drunk girl. Figures.

"Don't get an STD," I called over to him, not caring who was listening to me (which at the moment it looked like no one was). He rolled his eyes and stood up, walked over to me and dragged me in the circle of people. "What are you doing?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Getting you to play," he smirked, "You need some fun. And to stop being so cranky all the time." My eyes, yet again, rolled around; the gesture was becoming something I didn't even need to think about.

I didn't have time to argue though, because already someone was spinning the wine bottle around in the middle. It seemed to be one stupid crossover of spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven. Honestly, I've only played this game once before, and that was years ago, back in high school. With Sam. It's weird to think that was just years ago, when it feels like a whole lifetime ago.

The heartache I felt was short-lived, because then another one came shortly after, except with more of a feeling of dread. The damn wine bottle had spun and pointed directly at me, as if it was made to do so. Next to me, Paul was snickering. A bunch of girls who were in the circle left it, and a couple more guys joined it. I was the fresh meat the drunkies would fight over. Whoopee-freaking-doo.

"Spin the bottle," the guy on the other side of me nudged me with his elbow, and let his hand linger on my thigh for a few seconds. I slapped his hand away and bitterly spun the bottle. Watching it spin around and around, it felt like forever. Which was fine by me, because the longer it spins, the less I'll be in there. But no, it landed on someone eventually, someone who happened to be sitting right next to me. Unfortunately, it wasn't the drunken guy.

See, my family was never really religious. I don't know if we believe in a God or gods, or maybe even Satan. All I've gotten out of this "god" in life was that whoever was up there (or down there, I suppose) making all the rules had a terrible sense of humor, especially towards me. Like when Sam imprinted on Emily, or when I turned into a wolf.

This moment was just like those ones- a cruel joke.

Paul and I kind of just stared at each other for a while, both trying not to show the disappointment in our faces. He clearly wanted to kiss someone here, but I'm here anyone /but/ me. And me… I just wanted to be left alone. Is that too much to ask for? Apparently it is.

After some immature noises and some people asking us if we were brother and sister (not like it would've made a difference for them, but I should've told them yes), they practically had to push our statue-like bodies into the closet. "You have seven minutes!" some chubby guy with a stopwatch told us as he shut the door, "Have fun!"

Have you ever played Seven Minutes In Heaven? I've seen it played many different ways: with a bottle like this party, with someone else making couples randomly and not letting them know who was in the closet with them, or even going around the room and letting the person pick their poison. When you're in the closet with someone (who isn't your boyfriend, might I add), let me just create the mood for you.

It's a dark, small space. If you're lucky the closet will fit you two without one of you either being engulfed in coats or pushed up against the door. It smells like mildew, or anything the coats in there would smell like. And it's awkward. The first minute is one of the longest minutes of your life. The whole time you're in there, it's hot, as if your face is turning into a bright red sun on the spot. Not like you could see it though, since it's too dark even for a sun-face.

Paul and I stood in that closest for what felt like forever- but was really the first minute and a half- in complete silence. I was completely unsure where this was going. Part of me wanted him to make a move just so I could punch him, part of me wanted this to stay like this for the whole seven minutes… and part of me wanted him to just get this over with and kiss me already.

Finally my mind babbling was stopped when I heard Paul speak through the closet- quieter than usual, but still understandable. "This is awkward," he mumbled.

"Really? I had no idea," I mumbled back, leaning my back into the soft winter coats.

"Why couldn't I have gotten someone who actually liked kissing?" he complained. I don't know why, but that comment kind of stung a little. A short sting, like one a small paper cut would give you, but nonetheless it still left a mark.

Sometimes what I hate about the pack is that although they can read my thoughts, they really can't read me. Yes, I'm a girl who had her heart broken and her father died and is now bitter and moody. That doesn't mean I'm not a girl. Girls like kissing, and romance novels, and comfort food. I like kissing, and romance novels, and comfort food (especially comfort food). No matter if I'm bitter or not, things like makeovers and Taylor Swift's songs and hot movie actors are still going to get me going. I am a girl still, after all.

So when he said I don't like kissing, he basically doubted my ability to be a girl. I can be a girl. He wants to see a normal girl? He can.

Without thinking, I grabbed a bunched up part of his shirt and pulled him to me, and kissed him right on the lips. And when I mean without thinking, I mean without thinking. The moment his lips touched mine I felt a shock, both an emotional shock and a shock of electric spark. And if I wasn't expecting myself to do that, he clearly wasn't expecting it either. At first his lips formed an 'O' shape in alarm, but eventually they melted into mine, and they almost felt like one.

I would love to explain to you why no one pulled back at that moment and laughed at each other, but honestly, to this day it is still a mystery to me. The kissing lasted about the whole time. It wasn't hot or heavy or anything inappropriate like most people hoped for during this game. It was ironically the opposite of the both of us: gentle, sweet and pure. If anyone else I know would've been doing this in front of me, I would've told them to brush their teeth because they're too sugary sweet.

I never, to this day, have been so happy to be so hypocritical.

A loud banging on the door behind Paul woke us up out of our dream state. "Time's up, get out!" someone from the other side of the door said. We pulled back, the magic of the kiss wearing off and forming us back to our old selves. We stood there, dumbfounded for a couple seconds. Then Paul opened the door and walked out. I fixed my hair so it didn't look like anything happened, and followed him out.

* * *

**Sorry it ended kinda abrupt :P I didn't really know how to end it.**

**Thoughts? Comments? Insults? Jokes?**

**Lemme know in reviews people (:**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Guess who is not dead! :D I'm sooooooo sorry I havent been on ): I had midterms so I took a break, and then I did bad on the midterms so I got my computer taken away with no time to work on this xP I apologize. But I have break now so I'm back :D And hopefully they'll let me keep the computer until after break too, so I can finish this story (though it's hardly begun!).**

**But anyways, here you are, the new chapter! R+R please! (:**

* * *

The rest of that night was bullshit in its purest form.

Seriously though, after the whole… closet incident, absolutely nothing happened. There was no vampire. No vampire had shown up there, meaning that whatever went on that night didn't even _need_ to have happened.

But it did happen, and hiding it from the rest of the pack was going to be a bitch.

Luckily we drove to the party instead of phasing, so we got to leave driving as well. If we were phased, the pack obviously would've heard the whole story. I don't know about Paul, but over and over in my mind I just kept replaying those ten minutes of so- the spinning, the closet, the kissing. It was as if I paid to see a horror movie, and instead they played Titanic. Hopefully no one will die at the end of this story, though.

The morning after, the pack was supposed to meet at Sam's for a run. I couldn't sleep the night before, thinking about how I'd be able to block my thoughts from the pack. If they saw from one of us what happened, I would never here the end of it. But I couldn't run from it forever, so there was only one thing to do.

That morning I faked a cold. Werewolves have pretty good immune systems and stuff, but hopefully they just caught the hint that I didn't wanna go and they'd leave me be. I had to see them tonight anyway, at the Cullen's for the first gift giving ceremony.

Who knows? Maybe if I was lucky Paul won't be thinking about last night at all, and the pack would know nothing. Only problem with that is that Paul would've had to not think about it… so would that mean he didn't care? It could've meant nothing to him. After all, it meant nothing to me… right?

Now I remember why I had given up men. Perhaps I should stick to that plan.

"Mama, it's Leah!" Nessie cried when she saw me in the doorsteps of her grandparent's house. _No shit, _I thought to myself,_ let me in, Dumbass._

"Let her in, sweetie," I heard Edward yell from the other room, with some humor in his voice. I wonder if he heard what I said. Ah, I hate mind readers.

_Don't think of Paul. Don't think of Paul. Don't think of Paul._

Pushing it all away in my mind, I stepped inside. "Leah, so glad you came!" Esme walked in and beamed at me. "Have a seat. The others should be getting here shortly."

I awkwardly took a seat on their couch, trying not to let the terrible odor get to me. "I'm the first here?" I murmured, placing the shopping bag that had Rosalie's present in it on my lap. We were told to bring the presents in a plastic bag, so no one would get a glimpse of who has what wrapping paper. Apparently it could someone ruin the surprise, if people cared enough about it.

"Well, out of your pack you're the first here," she explained, "I was told you guys would all be showing up together, after a run."

"I used a sick day," I explained to her, then added a not-so convincing cough to the end of the sentence.

"Ah," she nodded, and gave a wry smile.

Thankfully then the pack walked in, saving me an awkward conversation with the Cullen's. I nodded slightly to them all. "You don't look sick to me," Jacob smirked, and I felt my face flush.

"Don't make me cough on you, Black," I smirked back at him, but I doubt my smirk looked very convincing. "It's highly contagious."

"Just like Paul's stupid!" Jared slapped Paul on the back and laughed, obviously teasing. All the guys laughed along, so I tried too. It was a weak laugh, unfortunately; a weak, pitiful laugh.

"Can we get started?" Alice called to us as she glided down the staircase, accompanied by Jasper. His usual constipated look was plastered on his face. "I just love my gift I gave!"

"Let's," Esme smiled, and then called to the vamps in the other room. "Carlisle, Rosalie, everyone! We're going to start!"

Out from the kitchen Edward and Bella walked in, holding each other's hands. I made sure I was not thinking about killing Bella or anything, but today it wasn't even a problem getting my mind off her. My mind was on other things. Ugh, I rather my mind be on killing Bella though.

Next Rose and Emmett walked out, with Emmett the-grizzly-bear Cullen's arm wrapped tight around his girlfriend… wife… whatever they are. Rosalie looked over at me and shot me a look of distain, so much so that I wondered if Eddy had read my mind and told the blonde that I had her for the Secret Santa thing. But then her eyes traveled over to all the other wolves and shot them the same look, so I knew it wasn't anything personal.

Lastly (as if them walking out of the kitchen was a red carpet event), out came Carlisle, talking with… Emily?

"Emily, what are you doing here?" Sam barked. Emily looked up at him and smiled, not the least bit mad that her husband practically growled at her.

"I knew you were coming with the pack, so I came here early to help the Cullens out with getting ready!" she smiled. I guess she didn't get the hint that being here alone with a house of bloodsucking soulless creatures didn't really give Sam such a good feeling, but he left it alone, probably to risk being rude (or maybe he was just whipped already).

Once everyone put their gifts under the Cullen's eight-foot Christmas tree (do vampires celebrate Christmas? Being a vampire kind of goes against the whole religion), Alice walked to the gifts and took them out of their plastic bags and handed them out to people, one by one.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Blondie opened her gift, and then pursed her lips in disgust. She elbowed her mate and showed it to him, and he laughed. At least Muscle Boy got the joke. She glared at him until he said something along the lines of, "It's pretty, babe." Which I have to admit it was; it wasn't just any compact mirror, it was bejeweled (or bedazzled, whichever it was) in a design of a rose. Huh, now that I think about it, it's actually a pretty nice gift, especially since she is Rosalie.

Ugh. I'm off my game.

As I started contemplating my next gift for her, something fell into my lap. "From your Secret Santa," the pixie-looking vampire grinned down at me. I looked down at the gift. It was just a card. What did they get me, cash? Some gift. Woo freaking hoo.

Slowly I peeled the envelope open, looking around quickly to see if anyone was watching. They weren't, of course- they were all too busy going through their own gifts. I carefully took the card out, expecting for something interesting to pop up. But no, it was a regular old Hallmark card. The cover had a fat and jolly Santa Clause in his sleigh of reindeer flying through the sky. Saying it with the utmost sarcasm, it really was heartwarming.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the card was that it was written in magazine letters. Someone actually took the liberty of cutting out magazine letters and gluing them in here to make words for me to read. Seth, Nessie, or Emily must have me for Secret Santa, since only they would take their free time to do this. Though, granted, I suppose I would have noticed a shortage of magazines in our house if it were Seth, so I should probably cross him off the list.

Anyway, besides the magazine lettering, the card was blank. I always hated giving blank cards to people for their birthday or something, because I could never fill the card with enough to say, so it'd always look empty and not thought out. This card was not the case, however. The magazine printings made it look tiny, like there was so much more to be said but no space to fit it in. I had to squint to read it, because all the different color and font size and shaped letters were giving me a headache.

Even though it's almost Christmas, here's a blast back to October. Enjoy the Halloween-themed gift. From, Secret Santa

There was nothing inside the card at all. So where's my freaking gift?

"Lucky, you got a lolly!" Seth plopped a seat right next to me and grinned, holding his newly acquired gift- a baseball. It had a signature on it, probably from some famous baseball guy, but I honestly didn't care enough to ask.

"Lolly? What are you talking about?" I raised my eyebrows at him. That's when I noticed the card was heavy for a card. Slowly, building up the un-needed tension, I turned the card to the back, and that's where my gift was. Taped to the card, it was a chocolate lollypop. Of course, candy for the Halloween theme. _That _was my present.

"It's homemade!" Seth grinned, "It looks really good!"

Again I say, woo freaking hoo.


	6. Chapter 6

**Another chapter (: I'll keep this short - New chapter now, sorry it's kinda short :P If there's spelling of grammar or stuff messed up, blame my lack of editing skills :P R+R please! Thanks for everyone who has reviewed, it means so much to me3 **

"Will you stop throwing that around? You're gonna break something," I grumbled over at Seth, who was lying on my floor tossing his new baseball up and down.

"I'm hardly throwing it," he complained, "It's just going up and down."

I rolled my eyes and turned the page in the magazine I was reading. About twenty minutes ago Seth came in my room to talk to me, which ended up him ranting about the Secret Santa thing and his new baseball. Apparently it was signed by an old baseball player, whose name I forget already.

"Where's your gift?" he asked me, finally letting me into the one-sided conversation we were having.

"What, the stupid lollypop?" The bitterness in my voice was obviously there, but I chose not to recognize it. "It's on my dresser." After four days I still didn't bother eating it. I really didn't want to eat it, either. If a vampire made it, who knows what it tastes like. Vampires don't eat after all, so how would they be able to make something good? It looked homemade to me.

Seth hopped up and walked over to my dresser, picking it up. "Aw, it's shaped like a heart!" he grinned, twirling it around in his hand. I swear, sometimes I wonder if he's going to imprint on a boy. I love my brother and all, but there are times when I legitimately think he's in the closet.

"Yeah, adorable," I flipped through the magazine a couple pages at a time, trying to keep myself from not being so bored. "Feel free to have it, if you want."

"Lee, are you sure?" he looked up at me, his big brown eyes' a blazing. "I don't know if your Secret Santa would appreciate that."

"My Santa would appreciate someone eating it, and I'm sure as hell not going to," I popped my gum, looking over at him. A grin lit up his face like a big Jack-O-Lantern, and unlike Renesmee is actually looked cute on him. He is my brother, after all.

"Thanks Lee!" he said grinning, "I'm going have it right now!"

So I watched as my brother ate my Secret Santa's first gift to me. He carefully unwrapped it, and then stuck the whole thing in his mouth. Trying not to laugh, I looked back at my magazine, which was not doing its job with entertaining me.

"Ew, there's a hair in it!" I heard Seth gag, and I watched him pull something thin and slobbery out of his mouth- but it wasn't a hair.

"Is that a piece of paper?" I raised my eyebrows at it. Did someone give me a fortune chocolate lollypop?

"It's a secret note!" he grinned happily, totally okay with the fact that he almost ate paper. Grabbing a tissue he wiped all of his sober off of it, trying to decipher his note. I mean, my note?

Something sparked my interest apparently, because I asked, "What does it say?" if it said anything, of course.

"It's… asking you on a date," he made a face. Because the thought of me dating guys nowadays totally disgusted him. Great.

"What?" I practically shot off of my bed and over to him. Looking over his shoulder, I read the paper. It was obviously typed online, looking like a fortune cookie fortune.

_Hope you enjoyed the treat, _it said,_ now for the trick come to the Forks High School Holiday Fair Friday night. To get your real gift, be under the Ferris wheel at 9 pm on the dot._

My first reaction was certainly not that the person was asking me on a date, unlike Seth's. My first reaction was "what the fuck?" followed by "does this person have no freaking life?"

"You have to go, Leah!" Seth's eyes were wide open, reminding me almost of one of those pug dogs. He seemed to think my annoying Secret Santa was fun. It certainly made his baseball look like a pile of werewolf shit.

"And what do you think will happen if I go?" I shook my head, trying to talk myself out of it. "It's probably one of the pack members doing it to get me to look like a loser." Seth's head shook quickly.

"No, we would know if it was one of their ideas, since we can read their minds in wolf mode!" he argued, and I almost winced. I really didn't need to be reminded of the problems of our wolf psychic abilities.

"What could they possibly want to give me at the fair that I couldn't get at the house?" I demanded. The butterflies in my stomach told me that whatever they wanted to give me could not be good. At all.

Seth just shrugged, seeming for once to not have an answer to my questions. "Some cotton candy?" he tried, and I sighed. "Look, you hafta do it! What if it's fun?"

Seth stared at me, and I looked back at him. I knew that obviously whatever they were going to give me in private could not be good, and honestly didn't know if I wanted to set myself up for some more problems. But on the other side, Seth was right: what the hell? It's not like I have much else to lose, considering I'm pretty much at rock bottom at the moment. Still, something bothered me…

"You're not behind this, are you?" he narrowed my eyes at him. "Because if you are, tell me now. Tell me if you know anything about this, or I swear to god I'll beat you so hard that you're inner wolf will forget how to imprint."

He laughed at me, but it was a nervous laugh. I could tell my threat got to him. "I promise, I know nothing," he shrugged. "Why would I?"

"Because you planned this?" I shrugged, taking a stab at it.

Seth just grinned. "Man, I wish I planned this. This is the best first Secret Santa gift, ever!"

* * *

Friday night rolled by sooner than I wanted. Soon enough I was arriving at the Forks High School Fair, with Seth trailing behind me like a lost puppy. I swear, he was more excited to see whatever this gift was than I was. Though to be honest, I wasn't very excited; nervous would be a better word for it. Nervous for what, exactly? I had no idea; I guess I was nervous for what I was about to face.

"Lee, it's ten minutes until 9! Go to the Ferris Wheel, now!" Seth was bouncing on the balls of his feet, reminding me of his 'Potty Dance' he did when he was younger when he had to go. I almost laughed.

"Calm down, I want to get something to eat first," I made my way over to the snack area. It was really only the first excuse I came up with, but I had a plan: I was going to be exactly one minute late to the Ferris Wheel, so I could scope the place out first. If I see anything I don't like, I'll catch it fast. If I don't see anything… well, I haven't thought that far into it.

"Seth, why don't you go find a new friend?" I shook my head at him, going on line for some cotton candy (since it had the longest line). Of course, he followed me on.

"Nah, I rather hang out with my sissy," he grinned, but it was in more of a _haha-you're-stuck-with-me _way. I had a hand it to that boy, I taught him well. Then something caught his eye- something probably important- because they widened big. Not just big, but as big as they were the day he found out he was a werewolf. "I'm gonna go," he mumbled, and ran off before I could ask him what was going on. Oh well, I'd talk to him later.

The line only took about five minutes, so I took the long way to the Ferris Wheel. I kept checking my IPod every minute, as if it'd speed up time. When the clock was 8:59, I positioned myself behind a bunch of people, watching the bottom of the Ferris Wheel.

No one was there though.

And not because no one was just there for the moment, but no one was allowed _under_ the Ferris Wheel. Hell, no one besides the worker was allowed anywhere _near _the Ferris Wheel. I took a walk as close to the Ferris Wheel as I could get, as if someone had left me a gift literally right underneath it. But of course, there's was nothing but dirt. "So much for that," I mumbled, pulling my thick wool gloves off so I could start on downing me bag of cotton candy.

Then suddenly I heard a voice from behind me. "Waiting for someone?" it said. My body froze, and my blood ran cold. I could picture the smirk on the person's face even before turning around to face him. The reality of what was going on hit me like a ton of bricks. This whole stupid wild goose chase wasn't the trick. No, the actual trick was my actual first gift. And what did I get- candy, a baseball, a mirror?

No, I was given Paul.


	7. Chapter 7

**Gah, I'm so sorry I haven't posted! I've been so wrapped up in quarterlys :P and I've been writing some original stories too. I wish there was a spot we could post original stories... but then again, it wouldn't be /fan/fiction xD Thanks to everyone who's sticking with me. Tell me how you like it! R+R!**

"What the hell are you doing here?" I whirled around to face Paul, who indeed did have a smirk on his face. It wasn't a condescending smirk though, like I thought it would be. There was no message of "I-know-something-you-don't-know". It was just a typical Paul smirk, almost like he caught me in the middle of an act that he didn't really know what it was. As much as I want to say the smirk looked stupid, I knew that would make me hypocritical.

"What are you doing here?" he echoed back at me, crossing his arms over his chest. "Meeting someone?"

His stupidity only pissed me off more. It clearly wasn't a coincidence we both were here alone. The thing I didn't get was whether he was in on the joke someone was clearly pulling on me, or if he was the punch line. From how he was acting it looked like the latter, but at this point I don't really feel like I could trust anything.

"Yes," I said, making shit up off the top of my head, "I'm meeting someone. My date." _My date with hidden cameras, _I thought to myself as I looked around quickly to see if anyone was watching, perhaps spying on us. But no, no one paid any attention to the teenagers next to the Ferris Wheel. "Who are you meeting?" I shot back at him, giving him a good look up and down. His hands were stuffed inside the pockets of his sweatshirt, and I could tell that there probably wasn't much underneath that sweatshirt, maybe if anything a wife beater. The problem with being a wolf in the winter is that you're hot all the time, and when you go out in public people really don't understand why you're wearing a tank top in a snowstorm. So we try to blend in as much as possible, but I can't say I particularly like wearing this bright white coat, because it only makes me hotter.

"I'm… I'm meeting someone to," he told me, his voice faltering slightly. The smirk on his face completely vanished, and there was something different about the expression on his face, but I couldn't put my foot on it.

"Who are you meeting?" I lowered my voice and gazed at him. A brief flashback of the party flashed before my eyes- us in the closet, our bodies pressed together and his lips on mine. I suddenly felt even warmer than before.

Paul didn't answer for a bit, then he glared at me and took a challenging step closer, so we were almost nose-to-nose. "Is this all some kind of joke, Clearwater?" he said after awhile, his voice a low growl. "Because if you're behind this I swear to God…" He did an angry twitch, which usually meant one thing: you better cool this kid off, before he goes all wolf on everyone.

"Paul, come down," I hissed, looking up at him. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." Okay, that was kind of a lie, since I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about. Oh well.

"I was told…" he hesitated for a second, then started over. "For my Secret Santa gift I was told to meet here at the Ferris Wheel. Apparently Santa guy was giving me a date." He raised his eyebrows slightly at me, silently questioning if I had anything to do with that. I just shook my head, not sure what else to say. The truth sure as hell wasn't going to be coming out of my mouth. "Well, great then," he exhaled, "so much for banging a babe tonight." I rolled my eyes- he's so totally Paul. "Where's your date?" he eyed me.

"Beats me," I shrugged, letting the lies come pouring out. "I suppose this is what I get for letting a random guy from Port Angeles ask me out." The lie was obviously fake- who would let a random guy ask them out, especially _me?_- but Paul seemed to believe it enough.

"So, sounds like we're both deprived of love," he softly snickered, but it wasn't very believable. Not like I cared, I was too busy looking around for someone, when there seemed to be people all over. There's no way I could try to look through the whole crowd. Unless…

"Let's go," I blurted, then corrected myself after his bemused face. "On the Ferris Wheel, I mean. Let's go on. We have nothing better to do."

He reluctantly agreed, and five minutes later I was dragging him onto a car on the Ferris Wheel, having cut the line by using my good looks (and oh-so kind words). As we went up I mumbled to him, "Let me know if you see anyone on the ground staring up at us, or something."

There was a few second pause, and them he snorted. "That's what this ride is about?" he scoffed. "To try to find your date?"

"No," I rolled my eyes, "But it wouldn't hurt. Plus for all you know your stupid Secret Santa could be in the crowd, too." He seemed to like that answer, because he started looking with me, until we came to a stop when we reached the top of the Wheel.

"So, uh, can I ask you something?" Paul's voice cut through the silence, almost making me flinch. Here it comes, the part where we bring up the kiss thing. I so did not want to have this conversation right now.

"If it's about what happened Friday, let me say something first." I leaned back and recited the speech I've been practicing in my head for days now. "I don't know what the hell that was, and I don't know about you, but it was just one stupid game of Seven Minutes In Heaven. I really don't think there's any need to bring it up, especially around the guys. It would just be nice if we could pretend that never happened, so the awkwardness would go away and we could be friends-ish again."

I refused to look at him as he answered me, in case there was any trace of an emotion I would not want to see. "That sounds good," he mumbled. There was a pause, before he added, "Friends-ish?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Whatever you want to call it," I smirked slightly, bumping his shoulder with mine. Immediately I knew it was a bad idea, because the moment I touched him I felt the desire to keep my shoulder next to his, just so we could still be connected in some how. Of course I didn't do that, though; instead I focused on something very interesting happening on the ground, while the Ferris Wheel car made its way to the bottom.

* * *

Much to my hesitations at first, Paul and I hung out the rest of the night. The stupid Secret Santa(s) got what they wanted, except it was hardly a date. A guy and a girl can hang out as friends- all my friends are guys, after all. And if I tried to say that us hanging out was awkward, I'd be lying. It was fun and incredibly comfortable, like us being together was natural. Maybe it is natural; besides the fact that he's a hothead, we're not too different.

By the end of the carnival, we had to part ways so I could look for my brother. "This was fun," I smirked slightly at him, "Especially beating your butt at the games."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, I let-"

"-me win?" I finished his sentence, rolling my eyes back. "Typical male reply." He shook his head, flushing slightly.

"I think there's Seth," he nodded slightly towards something behind me, and I turned. Sure enough, there was Seth, talking to a group of girls. Figures.

"I got to go get him," I made a face, then looked back at Paul. "Nice hanging out with you, surprisingly."

He laughed a little, and then cleared his throat. "We should, um, do this again," he said slowly. I blinked a little, confused. Was it me, or did it sound like Paul was asking me out? "Maybe I could beat your butt at something else," he added, flashing me a grin.

I couldn't help but grin back. No, of course he wasn't asking me out. He's a werewolf- one that will be imprinting. There's no way I'd ever get myself in another Sam situation. "You're on, Pauly." I snickered, and walked over to Seth and his girl group. A ginger was talking, about what I couldn't even tell. Two other girls, a pale brunette and a curvy blonde, were listening intently to her. Seth was ore fixated on the other brown-haired girl next to him. The two of them were standing next to each other, their shoulder's touching. It was absolutely adorable (sarcasm intended).

"Seth, time to go," I crossed my arms over my chest. His eyes widened like a deer in headlights, and he took a big step back from the girls.

"Seth, is this your sister?" the one closest to my brother smiled at me, the dimples on both her cheeks showing. Seth just nodded quickly and walked over and behind me, like a puppy with his tail between his legs.

"Yeah, I'm Leah," I nodded to them. The ginger immediately stopped talking and looked up at me, grinning.

"Hey!" she said, "I'm Lucy! This is Diana and Alex and-"

"I'm Emily," the other girl spoke up, smiling friendly. "It's nice to meet you."

Ugh, only my brother could find a girlfriend that seemed as sugary sweet as him. "Yeah, you too," I held back an eye roll, "We have to go though. See you." I nodded goodbye, then practically dragged Seth away. "You okay?" I mumbled to him, waving a hand past his eyes, which were still glazed over.

"Just peachy," he mumbled, and I shook my head.

Family, huh?

**Again, sorry this took so long to post! D: R+R would be nice please!**


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